"That sounds like a good idea Smokescreen." Bumblebee said as he turned to follow the red and blue mech. "Since you're faster you can reach the other side of the lake before I can."

Bumblebee would smile if he could do so in vehicle mode. The yellow minibot figured Smokescreen wanted to get out and floor it, he couldn't blame him. The intelligence officer had been cooped up in the Ark long enough himself and was enjoying finally being out and doing something. He couldn't blame Smokescreen for wanting to get away from him, Bumblebee knew what it was like to be a subordinate, so for now he was content to let the other 'Bot drive to his sparks content. Just as long as he didn't get himself into any trouble.

"Alright Smokescreen, we'll meet at these coordinates once we have completed laying the new gear."

Bumblebee uploaded the meeting place before turning off for his first location.

Excellent! Finally, a chance to be on my own for a little while and show these slow poke humans how to really drive! Smokescreen thought as he received the coordinates for the rendezvous point from Bumblebee. He was a little surprised that his minibot superior was letting him loose so easily. Bumblebee was no idiot. Surely he knew that time was not a factor here and that Smokey just wanted some freedom. They could just as easily finish the job together as they can apart. It would just take a little longer together.

The diversionary tactician was not complaining, however. "Okay, ‘bee. I’ve got the coordinates. I’ll meet you there in about ten cycles. See ya later!" And with that said, Smokescreen sped off heading east along the northern shore of Lake Erie.

As Bumblebee watched Smokescreen speed off down the road the yellow minibot smiled internally. He trusted the other 'Bot to get his job down without drawing attention to himself and enjoy himself at the same time. He was starting to wonder if he should talk to Ironhide about setting up a rotating patrol schedule for the other Autobots for no other reason then to let them out of the Ark and allow them to stretch their legs. Or tires in this case.

Bumblebee took the first turn that lead down to the shore line of Lake Erie to begin deploying his sensory equipment. He had scouted the entire shoreline of the lake himself when the Aubobots had first arrived on Earth and had set up the first set of gear then. In the time that followed he had explored many of the lakes island as well and had mapped them out himself. For the equipment he and Smokescreen were to deploy he had selected a number of secluded areas where very few humans ever went, but allowed a good coverage of the lake.

Lake Erie Shore

Bumblebee pulled off the road at the first opportunity when he was near the first drop spot, the minibot was skilled at being able to stay out of sight even in his vehicle mode. Though there weren't many humans around anyway, he always liked to ensure that the chances of being spotted were at a minimum just in case someone was looking for him. He pulled into the first area, a nice little spot covered by plant growth and there the minibot deployed the first piece of equipment and the moved onto the next. It took several hours for him to cover the are he had chosen for himself, but once he was done he moved onto the rendezvous point with Smokescreen.

As Smokescreen zoomed down the highway that followed the northern shores of Lake Erie, his scanners were acute to the surrounding area. Specifically, he was looking for any signs of human law enforcement vehicles that could put an abrupt halt to his racing fun. At some points, the red and blue mech exceeded speeds of 100 mph. He took sharp turns in the road like he was on rails and passed other civilian cars with ease, leaving them wondering what they had just seen. Ahhh, now this is the life, Smokey thought as he felt the air rush across his hood and over top of his roof. Nothing beats this, except maybe blasting a Decepticon into scrap!

Smokescreen then slowed and came to a rare stop at an intersection where a traffic light had just gone red. He was willing to break some of the traffic laws, but certainly not all of them. He didn’t want to run a red light or a stop sign and possibly cause an accident. The diversion expert wouldn’t be able to hide something like that from Bumblebee or Ironhide and then he’d get into a lot of trouble and end up in the brig. How long is this slaggin’ light? Smokescreen thought, impatiently, as a silver and black sports car pulled up along side of him. A young human male was behind the wheel, revving the engine and looking in Smokey’s direction.

"Hey, buddy, nice car! Let’s see what you got!" The human shouted, a clear challenge that the Autobot couldn’t pass up. So, this kid wants to race me, huh? Smokey thought, happily. Outstanding! The holo-avatar turned his head towards the human driver and gave a simple nod in response, as the blue and red ‘bot began revving his engine, too. This is going to be fun!

Then the light turned green and Smokescreen peeled off down the road with his challenger at his side. Smokey decided not to go full speed right away. Instead, he wanted to play with his adversary and make him think that he actually had a chance against the superior engineering under the Autobot’s hood. He even allowed the human to pull ahead for a short while, but that didn’t last long. Okay, enough playing with this human. I’ve got a job to do.

The diversionary tactician increased his speed and was about to zoom by when the black and silver car quickly swerved in front of him, blocking the Autobot’s passage. The little fragger cut me off! I don’t have time for this! Smokey then immediately swerved to his left but was once again blocked by the human and his sub par vehicle. Okay, kid, you leave me with no choice, Smokescreen thought, as he carefully rammed his opponent’s rear bumper. It was a maneuver the red and blue racer had successfully executed a long time ago back on Cybertron when he participated in underground street racing. Only then his bumper ramming was much harder with the intent to force the other bot off the road. He couldn’t be so forceful here with a much more fragile human.

Smokey rammed the vehicle’s back end two more times before the human finally relented and moved over, allowing the Autobot to blow by him. Within astroseconds, the black sports car was only a mere dot in Smokescreen’s rearview mirror.

A couple of hours passed before Smokescreen finally reached the first designated area at the far end of the lake. He quickly pulled off the road and used his avatar to set up a surveillance device amongst some nearby trees. He remembered to employ one of the mini holo-projectors to help hide the sensor’s presence, making it look like a simple rock. That should do it, Smokey thought as his avatar returned to the vehicle. He then made a u-turn and drove west in the direction he had just come from.

Along the way, Smokescreen deployed five more sensors near the shoreline, each time placing the devices in a secluded area with a holo-projector attached. He followed Bumblebee’s map closely, ensuring that he covered all of the spots the minibot had marked. Once completed, Smokey made his way to the rendezvous point where he waited for Bumblebee to arrive.

Bumblebee had only just arrived when he saw the familiar form of Smokescreen's vehicle mode come into view. Considering that the yellow minibot was not as fast as his subordinate he wasn't all that surprised that the other Autobot had managed to complete his part of the mission in the same amount of time even though he had to cover more distance. Bumblebee was also pretty sure Smokescreen had enjoyed every minute of it. Although the minibot understood the importance of discipline since had been given a command of his own, he also felt it was important to let his subordinates relax when they had the chance to do so.

The location that Bumblebee had selected for the rendezvous point was an area that was shrouded with a thick cover of trees to prevent any wandering eyes from clearly spotting the two Autobot's. He had made note of many such areas along the lakes shore line during his initial reconnaissance of the area. Perhaps a bit excessive on his part, but experience and instinct had taught him it was always a good idea to make note of such things.

"I take it everything went well on your end Smokescreen?" Bumblebee asked as he moved forward to park closer to the blue and red 'Bot. "Now that we have the shore line covered I want to get some devices on those islands." He pulled up another map of the islands of the lakes interior and highlighted the nearly a dozen of the smaller land masses. "I want to cover these specific islands since they will provide the best coverage of the area for our listening devices."

Bumblebee drove slowly into the water after he had sent the map to Smokescreen and kept on going until he was totally submerged. Once safely out of sight underwater and transformed into his robot mode.

"Alright Smokescreen I am going to take the islands in the lakes southern area, mainly Kelly's Island, Middle Bass Island, Catawba Island, and I am going to deploy a few at the bottom of the lake as well just to keep an eye on human shipping traffic in the area. I want you to take the islands in the west and deploy some along the bottom also. I think once that is done we can head back to the Ark as I think will do us nicely."

The minibot hovered in the water as he waited for his companion to join him.

“Everything went perfect, Bumblebee,” Smokescreen responded as the VW beetle pulled up along side of him. “I deployed surveillance devices at all the points you marked on the map. They are all functioning properly and are located in well secluded areas with holo-projectors attached for added concealment.” Smokey made no mention of the little race he had with the human. There was no need. The mission had been a success so far and that's all that really mattered.

Smokescreen listened as Bumblebee outlined the areas that he wanted to cover next. The red and blue mech received the new map of the islands before watchng his minibot companion drive into the water and disappear below the surface. The diversionary tactician quickly followed, transforming back to robot mode once he was completely submerged. It was fun being in car mode while it lasted, Smokey thought as Bumblebee gave him further instructions.

“No problem, 'bee,” Smokescreen assured him. “I’ll mainly focus on Pelee Island, the Sister Islands, Turtle Island and Green Island. But I’ll be sure to also cover the bottom of the lake, as well. I’ll let you know once I’m finished before heading back to the Ark.” Smokescreen then made his way further out into the lake. “Comm me if you need anything, Bumblebee. I’ll be there in an astrosecond. Take care!” Smokescreen then sank into the depths of Lake Erie and set a course for Pelee Island.

Bumblebee watched as Smokescreen made his was towards the map locations that the yellow minibot had set out for him. Being underwater felt almost as natural as being on land for Bumblebee and he smiled as he turned for his first destination and began to swim towards it. Although Cybertron wasn't as wet as Earth it still had contained a few water bodies before the war and the minibot had spent sometime exploring them. That was so long ago Bumblebee felt like it was almost a glitch in his memory banks. Even so, when exploring the water bodies of an alien world always conjured up those distant memories and gave him a strange sense of being home in the peaceful days before there were Decepticons.

The small Aubobot came out of his day dreaming as he approached the first island, Middle Bass. His sensors told him the area was clear of any potential prying eyes before he appeared from beneath the water to place a disguised sensor device on the shore. He then circled the island and placed several more before he submerged once more and covered the lake floor around the island. He then repeated this process with the other islands he wanted to cover.

Standing on the lake floor, Bumblebee placied the last of the sensor devices he carried in the hull of an old, sunken human ship. His exploration of the lake had revealed there were many such wrecks scattered over the area and Bumblebee had indulged his curiosity on occasion when he had the free time and Ironhide let him off the Ark. Although the minibot understood that each wreck represented a tragedy to some degree, there was a strange appeal to explore them, though his size, even for a minibot, made it difficult to get in side many of them and to move around.

The minibot looked up as a human ship passed by on the surface. He watched it for several astroseconds until it was past him before he let himself rise and activated his communications system.

"I'm all finished up here on my end Smokescreen, I'll met you back at the Ark before I head on inside."

The yellow minibot then swam back to the Autobot base ship and there he hovered in the water as he waited for his companion to return.

>>"Ark 19, this is Sunstreaker. I got whats left of Jazz. We and Sideswipe need and immediate bounce back to base before the cons send everyone they have after us."<<

>>Hey Sunstreaker. This is Windcharger. I've got a lock on the three of you. I'll have you out of there faster than you can say 'Cybertron'.<<

Windcharger had in fact managed to get a lock on Jazz just before the transmission came in and was just about to bounce them back anyway. All that was left was to press a few buttons on his control panel to complete the bounce sequence. Once completed, Windcharger turned to get Ironhide's attention.

"I've got them back here now. They should all be down in the transport room. I'll go down and meet them. Still can't figure out what was causing the interference that kept me from finding Jazz, though."

Windcharger paused, tapping a finger on his cranial unit trying to think of a solution.

"Better have Wheeljack come and check out my console. Maybe there's a problem with the sensors. Anyway, we'd better figure it out. Wouldn't want the Decepticons sneaking up us because of some faulty sensors."

Windcharger jumped up and gave Ironhide a quick salute, then ran for the door. As he entered the hall he transformed into his spiffy new alternate mode and sped off for the transport room to greet Jazz and the twins who he admired greatly. They were warriors like him, but they were bigger and got picked for more missions than he did. Perhaps it had more to do with reliability than size, but this thought never occured to the minibot. He always assumed that since most Autobots had to look down to speak to him he was thought of as being an inferior warrior to the others.

It wasn't often that Windcharger was picked first for a mission. But his ability to create and manipulate magnetic fields certainly made him an asset in some situations. The trouble was, one never knew what kind of performance you were about to get from him. Because he had a tendancy to make snap decisions, the results of his actions typically had half a chance of being positive. His thought process was a genuine plus in some cases, but his haste was a negative in others. It would likely take some major reprogramming to cure him of this, but then he wouldn't be the Autobot he is.

Burning rubber through the hallways of the Ark, Windcharger opened a communications channel to Wheeljack.

>>Hey Wheeljack. I know you're probably in the middle of a dozen things right now, but do you think you could have a look at my computer console? I think some sensors may be burned out. Lucky for Jazz that Sunstreaker found him when he did, or the Decepticons might have made him into spare parts. Anyway let me know what you find out. I'll catch up with you after I see the guys. Windcharger out.<<

>>Hey Wheeljack. I know you're probably in the middle of a dozen things right now, but do you think you could have a look at my computer console? I think some sensors may be burned out. Lucky for Jazz that Sunstreaker found him when he did, or the Decepticons might have made him into spare parts. Anyway let me know what you find out. I'll catch up with you after I see the guys. Windcharger out.<<

Computer Lab

>>Sure thing Windcharger I'll head on up and take a look at your console right away. I am not working on anything of vital importance right now.<<

The engineer grabbed his tool kit and turned for the door. He made his way through the ships corridors as he head up to the bridge of the Ark, and as he went he was working out in his mind all the different technical issues that could be causing the problem. It could be something as simple as a damaged link system between the console and the bounce system, or it could be as bad as a full crash of the consoles localised computer system. Wheeljack hoped it wasn't as bad as a crash as that would require him to pretty much rebuild the entire console. Though given what Windcharger had said about the trouble he was having it didn't seem to be a problem of that scale.

Command Deck

Wheeljack walked onto the command deck of the Ark and walked over to Windcharger's console and sat in the chair in front of it. He began a quick systems check and everything came back green, though the targetting scanner for the orbital bounce system was obviously out of alignment the console itself seemed ok and the there was no sign of a larger problem. The engineer opened his tool kit and opened one of the computer panels and began to take a look at the consoles circutiry and inner workings.

Everything seemed to be working fine since the last time he did a maintence check on the console. He closed the the panel and turned to the orbital bounce targeting sensor and set it to test mode, meaning he would not actually transport anything with the system, just merely make the system think it was doing so. He simply targeted a parked human vehicle in one of the near by urban centres and went through the process of initiaring an orbital bounce. However, when it came to finally locking onto the target the system seemed to either just drift off target or the system itself just had difficulty locking on.

Once again he opened the console and began checking the workings for the orbital bounce targeting sensors. Everything seemed to be ok, but then he noticed one of the circuit banks appeared damaged. Tacking a laser cutter from his tool kit Wheeljack carefully cut away the linkages keeping the bank in place and removed it. He didn't have to do more then see that part of the bank was damaged, fortunatly it wasn't anything major. He was able to remove the damaged section of circuits and he was able to replace them with spares he carried in his tool kit. Once the repair work was done Wheeljack placed the circut bank back in its place and reconnected it to the rest of the system.

With his repair work done Wheeljack closed the consoles panel and once again attempted the test targetting. This time the targeting sensors locked onto the target with only a slight delay, probably because the new circuts were only just added and did not have the chance to fully intergrate into the system yet, but other then that everything appeared to be working fine.

>>Wheeljack to Windcharger. I just finished taking a look at your console. There was a damaged bamk of targeting circuts for the orbital bounce system, it wasn't anything to major but enough to prevent the targeting system from getting a clear lock. I was able to repair the damaged area and place back in the system. From what I can see everything should be working fine.<<

With his work done Wheeljack packed up his tool kit and made his way off the bridge. He wanted to take a closer look at the damaged circuts as he only ran his last maintenice check about a week ago. He just wanted to make sure that the damage was just from regular wear and tear of equipment and not an indication of a larger problem.

Smokescreen came ashore on a deserted part of the island and immediately transformed to vehicle mode. It was not nearly as populated as the mainland, but Smokey didn’t want to take any chances of being spotted. His holo-driver exited the car and set up another sensor nearby, disguising it as a small sand dune. Smokescreen’s scanners detected a tiny dirt road just off the beach that appeared to stretch around most of the island. He decided it would be best to follow that route to deploy more sensors. It would provide more concealment and give better traction under his tires than sand.

As the diversionary tactician followed the path around the island, setting up devices as he went, he thought of home when Cybertron was alive and vibrant. It was a time when his life had been a lot different then it was now. Back then, he was a racer and a gambler, not a soldier. The only things he fought for was taking first place in street races and winning the most credits at the local casinos. And he wasn’t above cheating in order to accomplish those goals, either. Being devious was okay on the street, but the casinos didn’t think too highly of mechs who didn’t play by the rules. Smokey had been run out of more gaming establishments then he’d care to admit.

Of course, Smokescreen’s life changed forever when the war first began and a Megatron sympathizer approached him with an offer he almost couldn’t refuse – to join the Decepticon cause and rebel against the "corrupt" Autobot authorities. Smokey didn’t really mind the idea of sticking it to the government. The Autobot Security Force had broken up several of the illegal street races he participated in. And his personality had always been closer to that of a ‘con than an Autobot.

However, one thing made the red and blue mech different from Megatron’s goons. Smokescreen was NOT a murderer. That was the deciding factor for him. The Decepticons were ready to kill to achieve their goals, and Smokey was not. He would cheat for sure, but he would never take an innocent bot’s spark. It was not in his programming. So, Smokescreen ultimately joined the Autobots where he found a new way to utilize his deceitful characteristics as their diversionary tactician. It fit him perfectly.

Lake Erie

Once Smokescreen was done on Pelee Island, he moved on to the Sister Islands followed by Turtle Island and Green Island. Each time he assumed his car mode while placing sensors where they would provide the most coverage. After that phase of the mission was completed Smokey returned to ‘bot mode again and allowed himself to sink to the bottom of the lake where he laid out even more surveillance equipment until his subspace storage was empty. I guess I should head back now, Smokey thought just as he received Bumblebee’s message. Wow, he finished fast! He’s lucky we’re underwater or I would’ve beaten him.

>>Okay, ‘bee. I just finished up, myself. I’ll meet you at the Ark without delay. Smokescreen out.<<

It didn’t take long for the racing mech to make his way back to the sunken Autobot ship where he found the yellow minibot waiting patiently for him. “Hey, Bumblebee. What kept you?” Smokescreen joked.

Sunstreaker grunted in annoyance. They’d been bounced back inside the base instead of above it. Primus help whoever had manned the controls if he found any of that corrosive water in or on him anywhere. He wasn’t about to have the polluted liquid taking his paint off or sloshing around inside of him like one of the flesh creatures that lived on the planet. That stuff was for lower lifeforms. On top of that he was still lugging Jazz around. Not exactly the triumphant return to base he had been hoping for.

A small smile crossed his face. Just before the bounce he had been able to spot his missile tear the slag out of Thundercracker. It hadn’t quite blown the Con out of the sky, but it looked like it was more than enough to send him running back to his daddy seeker. That was certainly more than he thought he was going to be able to do when he’d been ready to hear whatever crazy idea his brother had come up for them to do. It was enough to keep him happy for a split second before he became annoyed again.

“Come on Sideswipe, let’s dump Jazz on Ratchet and go reload and recharge.” He dragged the stasis locked Autobot towards the door as he opened a comm line to Ironhide.

>>”Ironhide, we got Jazz but he’s been pounded pretty bad. Taking him to the med bay now.”<<

Skids smiled gamely at the engineer. "Don't worry about it, Wheeljack, I know what a cruel god physics can be. I'm grateful for all the help you've been giving me." He took the pad from Wheeljack and looked it over. "I'll run this by Ironhide and get back to you, thanks."

After setting his station into a "standby" mode with the regulation device recording passively, he headed out carrying the pad, deciding that now was as good a time as any. Even if Ironhide was busy, Skids reasoned that he could simply ask to speak to the commander later. Ordinarily he would handle such a matter over the comm system, but he figured it couldn't hurt to get out of the labs for a change. Besides, it might give him a chance to find out what had been going on while he'd been preoccupied...

Corridors

But the more Skids looked over the pad, the more uncertain he felt about the whole matter. On the one hand, the thought of being able to do his job even more thoroughly appealed to him, and it might also be useful to the other 'Bots who sometimes needed to monitor what was happening up on the planet. On the other hand, he could certainly still do his job perfectly adequately with his current equipment - especially with Wheeljack's new refinements - and he didn't like the thought of the base possibly being in danger due to one of his personal whims.

He spent a long spell of wandering the halls and pondering, before he finally decided to go ahead with his original plan of asking Ironhide regardless. After all, it was the commander's job to decide what was best for the mission, wasn't it? He sighed as he headed towards the nearest lift and wished, not for the first time, that the war could be over. That he could go back to the days when the worst you had to worry about on a cultural study mission was, say, accidentally saying the wrong thing and ending up being sold, married, or insulting the honor of the local leader's maternal parental unit. There'd been that one awkward but intellectually interesting time on Episilon IV...

Command Deck

He roused himself from his reverie as finally reached the command deck, stepped out onto it, and looked around a bit nervously. He seldom came up here, feeling far more at home in the labs or out in the field. Neither command nor fighting were things that he particularly desired or came easily to him.

Screwing up his courage to the sticking point, he made his way over to Ironhide's chair and stood with his hands clasped behind his back holding the pad in a polite demeanor. "Ah, sir... I was wondering if I could speak to you about a possible project whenever the current situation is settled."

When Smokescreen approached Bumblebee the yellow minibot was floating just above the Ark in the water. Although the other 'bot was easily faster then Bumblebee the fact the minibot could handle under water environments better then most other Autobots meant he always had an edge against them when submerged. The smaller bot had his arms crossed and a friendly grin on his fast when Smokescreen finally appeared.

"Oh you know me, I thought I would take in the sights and a few of the local fembots!" The yellow bot joked. "Come on, lets head back inside and lets see if anything has happened since we left."

Bumblebee allowed himself to drift down to the lake floor by the submerged Ark and he opened the airlock and stepped inside. Once the two 'bots were inside the lock sealed, drained, dried and decontaminated the pair. Once done the door opened and allowed them to step outside.

"I am going to head up to the command deck to see what is going on Smokescreen. Thanks for the help with deploying that equipment, I would probably be only half done by now with out your help."

Command Deck

The door to the command deck slide open as Bumblebee walked into the room. Looking around he could see a few of the others who were there when he left were still at their stations, but some had already left. He figured they had other duties to attend to at the moment and he made his way over to his own console to check on how the new sensor gear was working out.

"Hey guys, anything new going on?" Bumblebee asked as he slipped into his chair.

As he listened for an answer he brought up the sensor network set up around the ship and began to intergrate the newly deployed gear into the system. It didn't take long for the minibot to see that already the new equipment had already done well to plug up the holes in the network around the lake and he had a much clearer image of what was happening in the area then he did before he and Smokescreen had left on their mission.

“Fembots, huh? Did you save one for me?” Smokescreen laughed as he followed Bumblebee down into the airlock of the Ark-19. Once inside, the outer hatch sealed and the room drained from top to bottom. It took only a few astroseconds for all the water to completely disappear. Then the drying and decontamination process occurred before the inner hatch finally opened.

Ark-19 – Corridors

Smokescreen stepped inside the ship having thoroughly enjoyed his brief time outside. He liked this planet a great deal. It had decent roads to race on and the humans had good taste in vehicles. However, Earth still did not compare to Cybertron before the war decimated it, but this blue world was a good substitute.

Smokey listened as Bumblebee thanked him for his help and said that he would be going up to the command deck to check on things. “You're welcome, ‘bee. I'll head back down to the computer labs and continue monitoring our systems for any potential outside intrusions. Let me know if those sensors we placed function properly. See you later!”

The red and blue mech then strode off down the corridors, not looking forward to continuing with the menial task he had been doing before. Well, here I go back to staring at more firewall encryption codes and system safeguards. How exciting. At least I got out for awhile. Smokescreen’s thoughts were interrupted when Sunstreaker and Sideswipe suddenly appeared from the transport room. “Oh, hey guys, how went the....what the frag? Jazz?!” Smokey exclaimed when he saw the stasis locked body of his friend in the yellow warrior’s arms. “Dear Primus, what happened to him?”

Smokescreen and Jazz were long time friends and comrades. They had fought side by side in many battles on other worlds, including Cybertron, where the white mech had saved Smokey’s aft more times than he could recall from his memory banks. Now his friend was in stasis lock with serious damage to his leg, and Smokey wanted nothing more than to help him in any way that he could. Monitoring the systems would have to wait until later. This was more important. “Is there anything I can do to help, guys?” Smokey asked the twins.

>>"Roger that, Sunstreaker. Get recharged. Once we find out what Jazz learned, we're gonna be lookin' ta give some back."<<

The Ark-19's Commander was relieved to have his boys back home. Relieved, and angry. Sure, the Twins had done a right good job, but that still didn't cool his circuits much. Frag, he wasn't even sure who he was mad at: Jazz for gettin' slagged, or himself for puttin' the white-and-black saboteur in the line of fire in the first place.

He'd originally wanted to delay Jazz's mission until Mirage returned from assignment. But Jazz could be very convincing. He'd sweet-talked Ol' Ironhide into letting him go it alone. Now the dented old veteran couldn't help but hold himself responsible.

Ironhide nodded as Bumblebee returned. "The Twins just got back. Jazz is in bad shape," he informed his Executive Officer.

There was, of course, the pressing matter of Jazz's mission as well. Before he'd gone into Stasis Lock, the flashy mech had mentioned he'd overheard something big at the Decepticon fortress. That probably meant that the data was time sensitive.

The Autobot intelligence officer had been working at his station as Ironhide filled him in on the return of Jazz. When Bumblebee heard that his long time friend was in bad shape the minibot suddenly turned to face his commander, full attention now focused at the situation. Like some of the others on the Ark-19 Jazz and Bumblebee had been friends since before leaving Cybertron, and due to their specialties they had worked together many times. Bumblebee had been waiting eagerly for Jazz to return with new intelligence, but now he just hoped his friend would pull through.

"Slag... that's not good at all." Bumblebee said to Ironhide in a concerned tone. "Not only do we have to wait for Jazz to recover so we can learn what information he has, but it also gives the Decepticons time to change their plans to counter any damage we might be able to cause." Bumblebee leaned back in his chair. "Though I guess we are lucky. The 'Cons aren't exactly slouches when it comes to killing things... so I think we can be thankful that Jazz made it back with his aft still intact."

"You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues. Lots of issues."Batman to Wonder Woman, Justice League Unlimited Episode 6: The Little Piggy

Skids looked over as Bumblebee came in before Ironhide could respond to his request. Upon hearing the report on Jazz's situation, he winced and hung his head. Even though there was nothing he could have done in this particular situation, he still felt a bit guilty at puttering around his station while Jazz was out getting injured.

Eventually he raised his head and changed position to clasping Wheeljack's pad to his chest. He smiled a bit wanly at Ironhide. "Never mind, sir, this," he indicated the pad, "Can wait until later, if need be. If it turns out there's anything I can do here to help with Jazz, let me know." He wasn't sure there would be until they found out whatever information Jazz had recovered, but he felt a need to offer.

Joking a bit in an attempt to lighten the mood a little, he added, "Well, other than making sure Jazz's favorite music stations are on tap for him while he's recovering, I mean."

Windcharger arrived just as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were hauling Jazz's motionless form into the corridor. The sight was gruesome to the Autobot warrior. Although he'd been fighting with the Autobots for longer than he could remember, Windcharger certainly had trouble adjusting to the carnage he'd witnessed throughout the war. Even now his energon reservoir turned a bit at the sight of Jazz.

"Slag," was the only comment he could muster at the moment. His expression equally conveyed his concern for his comrade in arms and friend, as well as his contempt for the Decepticons. After a moments pause Windcharger was back to his usual self, quick to act and less inclined to dwell on bad thoughts.

"Let me give you guys a hand," He spoke to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Generating a modest magnetic field, Windcharger pulled an unused maintenance cart out of the corner and brought it to where Jazz could be laid out. The cart would make a reasonable facsimile of a gurney. Should make it easier for them to get down to Ratchet.

Once his task was accomplished, Windcharger stepped aside next to Smokescreen to make way for the transport of Jazz. Now with nothing to do, the feeling of uselessness started to creep back into his consciousness. To suppress it he turned to Smokescreen to get a conversation going. "If Jazz looks that bad, I wonder how the Decepticons look? It can't be good for them to have Sunstreaker and Sideswipe gunning for them, eh?"

Now, why didn’t I think of that? Smokescreen considered as he watched Windcharger do the obvious and bring a cart over to where the twins were standing. It would certainly make it easier to transport Jazz down to med bay. With all my computer smarts and diversionary expertise, and I couldn’t even think to bring a cart over. I’m so useless sometimes. Smokey tended to be hardest on himself, especially when a friend of his was in trouble and he failed to think of the simplest thing to help him. The red and blue mech also didn’t like feeling helpless while his comrade lay in stasis lock with fluids leaking out of him. If Smokey could give his own leg to replace Jazz’s, he would in an astrosecond.

“Nice work, Windcharger. Wish I’d thought of that,” Smokescreen said as the minibot stood next to him. 'Charger then made a comment regarding how the Decepticons must look if Jazz was in this bad a shape. The twins were a tough pair to beat and were fully capable of sending any mech on a one way trip to the scrapheap. “Yeah, I’m sure Sunny and Siders slagged those ‘cons up real good. At least, I hope they did. I just hate this feeling of being helpless, you know? I wish there was something more we could do.” Smokey paused a moment as an idea formed inside his thought processors. “Maybe there is something we can do!”

Smokescreen quickly turned to the twins. “Hey Sunny, if you want, Windcharger and I can take Jazz down to med bay. That way you and Siders can go recharge. What do ya say?”

It felt to Sunstreaker like he was being bombarded with Jazz groupies. It figured that he would be popular. He was always latching on to whatever popular fad was going on. Now he had latched on to Earth fads and music. He had no use for it himself. Who cared about what the hairy natives did for recreation. It’s not like they amounted to anything anyway. Just a bunch of little idiots stuck in their way, just like on every other world.

“He bit off more than he could handle and got his aft kicked by cons,” he replied to the questions over what had happened to the intelligence officer. For as popular as the other Autobot was, he apparently couldn’t handle the fight he had gotten into. Of course, Sunstreaker himself wasn’t popular and was more than capable of beating just about any Con out there, or so he thought. ‘Just goes to show that popularity doesn’t mean scrap,’ he thought to himself.

The Autobot warrior eagerly accepted the offer to dump off Jazz on someone else, namely Smokescreen and Windcharger. He had better things to do than drag the damaged bot around. “Pfh, I doubt Jazz did anything. He was probably running from the cons. I will tell you guys this though; Thundercracker won’t be forgetting me anytime soon.” The Autobot smirked as he tapped his empty missile launcher.

He turned to his twin. “Come on Sideswipe, let’s go get some energon. I need to double check my systems and paint job too. I wasn’t built for offroading or teleporting through so much corrosive water.”

Sideswipe slapped Smokescreenon the shoulder and chuckled. The diversionary tactician sure had a way with words.

“Cons? Are you kidding me?! It was Laserbeak and Thundercracker… a flying bulls eye and a wannabe!”

Sideswipe turned to Sunstreakeras he placed Jazz’sinert form on the med berth. His twin’s comments about Jazz’s capabilities irked the crimson warrior, but not enough to correct his brother. Sunny was right in that Jazz should have been able to hold his own, but to bad mouth the mech while he was down and out, well that didn’t sit well.

Sideswipe lightly touched his opposite’s arm and smiled broadly.

“Well, let’s just say Jazz bit off more than he could chew…” He nodded at Sunstreaker and continued. “So Ironhide decided to send in the digestive´.”

That said, Sideswipe made his way past Sunstreaker. “You did get nicked back there. And I need to refuel my pack.”

Smokescreen listened as the twins filled him and Windcharger in on some of the details of what amounted to a small skirmish. He smiled at Sideswipe’s comment about Thundercracker and Laserbeak, but he was none too happy with Sunny bad mouthing his friend, Jazz. There was something about Sunstreaker that irked Smokey to the very core of his spark. The yellow warrior often came off as condescending towards others and didn’t seem to care about anyone or anything but himself. The only exception was his brother and even that was a precarious relationship at best.

“I’m sure Jazz did what he could,” Smokescreen assured Sunny as the damaged white mech was placed on the cart. The diversionary tactician then got behind the makeshift gurney, turning to Windcharger in the process. “Come on, ‘charger. Let’s get Jazz down to the repair bay so Ratchet can get him online again.”

Smokescreen then made his way past the twins, pushing the cart and Jazz down the hallway and around the corner. When he was sure Sunstreaker was far enough away he turned to Windcharger again. “Sunny can be a real slaghead sometimes,” Smokey said quietly to the minibot. “The way he spoke about Jazz just now really sizzles my circuits.” It took a lot to get Smokey angry, especially at another Autobot. He was usually very friendly and easygoing, except when he was around Sunstreaker. No matter how hard he tried, Smokey just couldn’t warm up the the yellow mech and now he had even more reason not to like Sunny.

Repair Bay

Moments later, Smokescreen entered the repair bay. “Hey, Ratchet! I got Jazz here. He’s banged up pretty bad and in stasis lock. Please do what you can for him.” ________________________________________

Armory

Finally, Trailbreaker was finished. It had taken him a while, but the black mech had gone through the ship’s armory and took a complete inventory of every gun, every warhead, every laser cartridge and every bit of ammunition they had. He went down a detailed checklist on his datapad and made sure that everything was fully stocked and accounted for. ‘Breaker didn’t expect to be low on anything since there hadn’t been much in the way of action since the Autobots arrived on Earth four years ago, with the exception of a few minor skirmishes here and there. But he had to make sure nothing had been misplaced and everything was where it was supposed to be. Time to take the inventory up to Ironhide, the defensive strategist thought as he exited the armory.

Command Deck

The door slid open and Trailbreaker stepped on to the command deck. He approached Ironhide with the datapad in hand. “Ironhide, I just took a full inventory of the armory. Everything is as it should be. I even straightened the place up a bit.” He then handed the checklist to his commander. “Now, if there’s nothing else, sir, I thought I might run a few tests on the ship’s weapon systems to make sure everything is up to spec.”

Trailbreaker then took a seat at a workstation next to Brawn. Using his security codes, ‘Breaker accessed the Ark-19’s weapon systems and began running a computer simulation that would basically gauge how well the ship’s automated weapons would respond to an attack. They would not actually fire, of course. That could potentially give away their position. It was all done within the simulation.

While waiting for the test to finish running, the black mech looked over at Brawn. “So, Brawn, how have ya’ been? I've not seen you around lately. You working on anything interesting?”

Seaspray awoke with what could only be considered a shock, “where am I?” he thought to himself as his optic sensors took in everything in front of him. Then it all came back to him, he was on the Ark-19, he had been in one of the ships CR-Chambers, having been damaged just before they had left cybertron he had decided this was the best place to spend the journey as it would give him enough time to recharge. But something was wrong he checked his internal processor and found that he had spent way to long in the chamber, something must have gone wrong with the automatic timer inside it. “Oh well , a couple extra circles of recharge would do me no harm” but now that he was awake he eager for action, and this best place to do that was to report to the boss, and knowing Ironhide there was only one place he would be.

Seapreay moved along the corridors until he reached the entrance to the Command Deck, he paused outside the door to get his bearings, being out cold for such a long time was a real nuisance for him as a number of his internal systems where still coming online. It was almost like having a bad hangover from too much energon; he laughed at the thought, and then entered the command deck.

Command Deck

He looked around and saw his commander Ironhide in the middle of the room as well as two other Autobots at work on two the many computer terminals that lined the command deck he searched his memory for their names and after a micro second it came to him. Trailbreaker and Brawn where their names, he wished his systems would wake up already these delays where driving him nuts, not to mention making him look like a fool. He nodded to the two Autobots and approached Ironhide and said “Seaspray, reporting for duty sir!”

It was difficult for Windcharger to understand how an Autobot could act so callous toward one of his allies, let alone one like Jazz. Indubitably, Jazz was one Autobot whose value to the cause went beyond simply being a soldier. It was Jazz who had gotten them out of many complicated situations in the past with a certain flair that was unparalelled. There was a reason he was sent on special operations missions on a regular basis. He was almost certain to accomplish the given task, sometimes in an unconventional way. But he had one the esteem of most of the Autobots because though he was a great soldier he had the charisma to be able to relate well to his comrades. That was why the Autobots were flocking to help their fallen friend; most could imagine that Jazz would do the same for them.

Windcharger figured Sunstreaker was just having a bad day, but he wasn't about to confront him about it right now and he probably never would. It wasn't in his programming to try and upset the status quo. He figured if he was a friend to everyone, everything would turn out alright in the end. Windcharger was concerned about Smokescreen's reaction to Sunstreaker, though. "Slaghead he may be, but I'm glad he's with us and not the Decepticons," Windcharger addressed Smokescreen's comment. "He's probably just worked up over having to get his paint touched up. You know how sensitive he is. Don't let him bother you." Windcharger smiled hoping that his attitude might rub off and cheer Smokescreen up a bit. "Besides, I'll bet Sunstreaker's just miffed that he couldn't do more to help Jazz," Windcharger added musing about why Sunstreaker is the way he is.

It didn't take long before they had Jazz down to the med-bay. It seemed as if Ratchet was well prepared when they got there. Wheeling in the makeshift gurney, Windcharger helped transfer Jazz's inert body to a proper work table. Standing to the side, the wait for Ratchet's diagnosis seemed to take cycles. "So how bad is it?" Windcharger asked finally, unable to suppress his concern any longer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Command Deck

Brawn pressed a few more keys on his computer bringing up a file he'd previously saved, then turned to Trailbreaker with a sly grin on his faceplate. "I'm glad you asked, 'Breaker, he said to his old friend. "I found this place not long ago while processing data, kind caught my optic." He pointed to a map display on his monitor that was currently displaying a section of the western United States. "Check out the topography contours. The humans call this place the Rocky Mountains. I've never seen anything like this on Cybertron. All of it untouched by civilization." Getting more and more excited, Brawn pulled up a satellite view of the Rockies which showed mountains, trees, rivers, and plateaus. "Just look at it. Can't you hear it calling to you. We should check it out when we get some spare time. Whatdya say?"

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